Chapter 376: Chapter 376

As Sang Ning’s figure completely disappeared from sight, the glimmer of hope in Lian Qi’s eyes was snuffed out bit by bit.

Dammit! This grudge has officially been recorded!

The first batch of supplies—there’s no way he’s letting Sang Ning take them.

In truth, Sang Ning wasn’t lying; she hadn’t tied him up very securely. As long as he tried his best to wiggle, he could still break free from the ropes around the tree trunk.

But the real issue was—he didn’t want to!

There was a surveillance drone hovering right above his head, monitoring his every move at every moment. He’d already embarrassed himself once before—if it happened again, he’d truly cement his title as the "Heroic Butterfly."

In front of the camera, his idol image was still something he took very seriously.

But if he didn’t hurry and break free, he’d fall behind the others once again.

Supplies or style? That was the question.

The faint buzzing from the helicopter overhead jolted Lian Qi into clarity.

Forget it, he was choosing style!

If he missed the first batch of supplies, there’d still be a second batch. He didn’t believe he couldn’t wait for one or two allies to come to his rescue.

Tilting his head back at a dramatic 45-degree angle, Lian Qi flashed what he deemed to be his most charming and handsome smile at the drone.

The staff monitoring the footage happened to glance at the screen, their eyebrows twitching slightly.

Lian Qi might actually be an idiot—how could someone tied up smile so cheerfully?

But Lian Qi’s cheerful smile didn’t last long. Fate had a way of messing with him: he heard the one voice he least wanted to hear.

"Who’s the unlucky sod stuck up there?"

The voice came from behind him. Lian Qi’s spine stiffened instantly, and his smile froze on his face.

Dammit! Did Sang Ning’s mouth have some kind of prophetic power?

She said she’d find Wei Lejun, and sure enough, here she was!

In his current state, he looked utterly ridiculous—a tall man over six feet, tied up with a dainty butterfly knot. If Wei Lejun saw him, she’d probably laugh her head off. He wouldn’t hear the end of it in their verbal sparring matches for the next month. This one incident could pin him to the pillar of shame forever, with no chance of redemption.

Lian Qi felt like a flower blooming only to wilt—his expression darkened as he clenched his teeth, determined to maximize his flexibility.

He squirmed left, right, forward, backward, up, and down, wiggling as fast as he could. His body twisted and slid downward, trying desperately to slip out from under the ropes.

"Hey, who’s up there? Why aren’t you saying anything?"

"Oh, look at this! Lian Qi, is that you, you little rascal?"

"What the heck are you doing? Why are you wriggling like some giant maggot—are you doing interpretive art or something?"

Wei Lejun’s voice grew closer and closer, but the ropes still weren’t fully undone. Lian Qi was so anxious he was practically sweating bullets. His wriggling grew so frantic that it looked like he was being electrocuted, his body trembling in spasms.

Seeing the figure in front of her staying silent only piqued Wei Lejun’s curiosity further, quickening her pace toward him.

"Oh wow! So, it really is you, you litt—"

The last word was on the tip of her tongue but rolled back down her throat at the last second.

In his desperation, Lian Qi had finally freed himself from the ropes. However, the moment he slipped out, he lost control of his balance due to the momentum and ended up falling forward onto his knees—right at Wei Lejun’s feet.

When people fall, they instinctively reach out for support. Unfortunately for Lian Qi, his means of support turned out to be clutching Wei Lejun’s leg.

The smile on Wei Lejun’s face faded instantly. This was the first time she’d had any physical contact with Lian Qi, and the bastard had gone straight to hugging her leg—tightly, at that. For a brief moment, she felt a strange sensation, almost like his body heat was searing through the fabric of her pants onto her skin.

Her ears turned slightly red. This was the first time she’d ever lost her composure in any confrontation with Lian Qi.

Lian Qi, too, realized the absurdity of what he’d done.

He... he had just knelt before Wei Lejun! And his head... his head was practically buried in...

AHHH!!! Heaven, just kill me now! ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝✶𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮✶𝓷𝓮𝓽

The situation before him was an embarrassment Lian Qi didn’t know how to handle—it was way too awkward. Maybe he should just play dead!

Rolling his eyes upwards to show the whites beneath, Lian Qi prepared to put his recent "acting theory" studies to work and give the performance of a lifetime as an unconscious fool.

But just as his head tilted back slightly, a foot came crashing down on it: "Thinking about playing dead, huh? Dream on!"

This time, Lian Qi ended up on the ground as planned—not because he fainted, but because he’d been kicked there.

He had to give thanks to Wei Lejun: her strength was perfectly calibrated—enough to knock him flat without causing any real harm.

The romantic tension bubble was popped entirely by Wei Lejun’s kick, leaving nothing but fleeting echoes. Replacing it with fury and sharp words to disguise her own embarrassment was her specialty.

Lian Qi dropped the "rolling-white-eyes" act immediately. From that one kick, he knew the "fainting" route was a no-go.

With a swift sit-up and hands on the ground to push himself up, he stood quickly. Switching straight into shameless mode, he began force-feeding himself selective amnesia to erase the embarrassing scene that had just unfolded.

"I’m sorry, I didn’t do it on purpose!" Lian Qi apologized to Wei Lejun, though his tone was utterly devoid of sincerity.

But after something as minor as a little accidental contact, the tiny hint of shyness bubbling deep inside made his tone soften ever so slightly.

Wei Lejun was feeling awkward as hell too. To mask her unusual feelings, she tried resorting to harsher words: "Ugh, you disgusting thing! Now that you’ve touched me, I don’t even want to keep these pants anymore!"

The disdain in her voice was palpable—a full-on performance. Normally, Lian Qi would’ve jumped at the chance to argue back and launch into one of their classic heated spats.

But the image of him hugging her leg kept replaying in his head, stirring up a strange and inexplicable feeling deep within.

Honestly, it wasn’t fair to blame Wei Lejun for any of this—it was all Sang Ning’s fault for causing trouble.

If it hadn’t been for her betrayal, he wouldn’t be making a fool of himself in front of Wei Lejun right now.

Suddenly, Lian Qi lowered his head, adopting an expression of earnest contrition: "I’m sorry, fine, I admit it—it was all Sang Ning’s idea!"

Wei Lejun was stunned. The usually combative Lian Qi was actually apologizing? "Sang... Sang Ning? What’s she got to do with this?"

Unconsciously, Wei Lejun began to stammer as she spoke.

Lian Qi seized the moment—right now, Wei Lejun was clearly distracted. He took this opportunity to smear Sang Ning’s reputation. If she had no mercy, then he wouldn’t either!

"I teamed up with Sang Ning! She told me her biggest rival is you, and if I could find a way to stall you, she’d grab the supplies, build the first boat, and take me back to the training camp. Then we’d tie for first place, while you’d be left drooling over our feast!" Lian Qi, growing more animated, puffed out his chest and even bumped it against Wei Lejun’s in a show of mock provocation, his smirking face radiating smugness.

"Ha! Her? Keep dreaming!" Wei Lejun crossed her arms and sneered dismissively.

Having spent so much time with Sang Ning, she knew full well that every word out of Lian Qi’s mouth right now was absolute nonsense.

But given how mortifying the earlier situation had been, and considering Lian Qi had handed her this convenient excuse, she decided to play along and roll with it.

Yes, Sang Ning’s role was clear—as the designated scapegoat for moments like these.